ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Hoffman - Filmmaker
In David Hoffman's long film career, he's made documentaries on everything from Amelia Earhardt to B.B. King, from double-dutch jump-roping to F-15 fighter pilots. Lately he's been fascinated with the early space program and our mania for all things Sputnik.

Why you should listen

Documentary filmmaker David Hoffman has been capturing reality for almost 4 decades, following his wide-ranging interests and turning them into films for PBS, The Discovery Channel, A&E, National Geographic. Highlights from his career include the groundbreaking experimental doc King, Murray, which blurred boundaries between truth and fiction as it tracks its subject through a debauched weekend in Las Vegas; A Day With Filmmaker Timmy Page, about a 12-year-old auteur; and his series of films on American indigenous music.

Lately, he has become fascinated with the Atomic-era Space Race, turning out a feature-length documentary about the Sputnik era. Sputnik Mania was scored by Thomas Dolby and has played at festivals and theaters around the country.

Hoffman suffered a devastating setback in early 2008 when, nine days before TED2008, his home, containing a vast archive from his long and fascinating career, burnt to the ground. His next project: to reframe his life and rebuild.

More profile about the speaker
David Hoffman | Speaker | TED.com
TED2008

David Hoffman: What happens when you lose everything

David Hoffman o tem, kako je izgubil vse.

Filmed:
1,155,400 views

Devet dni pred konferenco TED 2008 je David Hoffman v požaru, ki je uničil njegov dom, pisarno in 30 let vnetega zbirateljstva, izgubil skoraj vse. Ozira se nazaj na življenje, ki je izpuhtelo v trenutku in hkrati gleda v prihodnost.
- Filmmaker
In David Hoffman's long film career, he's made documentaries on everything from Amelia Earhardt to B.B. King, from double-dutch jump-roping to F-15 fighter pilots. Lately he's been fascinated with the early space program and our mania for all things Sputnik. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:19
I had a fireogenj ninedevet daysdnevi agonazaj.
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Pred devetimi dnevi sem imel požar.
00:23
My archiveArhiv:
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Moj arhiv:
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175 filmsfilmov, my 16-millimeter-milimeter negativenegativno,
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175 filmov, moji 16-milimetrski negativi,
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all my booksknjige, my dad'sOče booksknjige, my photographsfotografije.
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vse moje in očetove knjige,
00:31
I'd collectedzbrani --
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ki sem jih zbral --
00:33
I was a collectorzbiralec, majorMajor, big-timevelik-čas.
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Bil sem velik zbiratelj --
00:35
It's goneizginil.
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vse je izgubljeno.
00:38
I just lookedpogledal at it,
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Ko sem vse skupaj pogledal,
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and I didn't know what to do.
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nisem vedel, kaj naj storim.
00:43
I mean, this was --
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Mislim, to so bile --
00:45
was I my things?
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so moje stvari bile jaz?
00:48
I always livev živo in the presentprisotni -- I love the presentprisotni.
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Od nekdaj živim v sedanjosti -- sedanjost ljubim.
00:51
I cherishcenijo the futureprihodnost.
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Prihodnost cenim.
00:54
And I was taughtučil some strangečudno thing as a kidfant,
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Kot otroka so me naučili nekaj čudnih stvari,
00:57
like, you've got to make something good out of something badslab.
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kot, slabe stvari spreminjaj v dobre.
00:59
You've got to make something good out of something badslab.
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Iz slabega naredi dobro.
01:01
This was badslab! Man, I was --
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To je bilo grozno. Bil sem --
01:03
I coughkašelj. I was sickbolan.
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Kašljam. Bil sem bolan.
01:05
That's my camerakamera lensobjektiv. The first one --
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To so leče moje kamere. Prve --
01:07
the one I shotstrel my BobBob DylanDylan filmfilm with 35 yearslet agonazaj.
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Tiste, s katero sem pred 35 leti posnel film Boba Dylana.
01:10
That's my featurefunkcija filmfilm. "KingKralj, MurrayMurray"
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To je moj celovečerec. "Kralj, Murray",
01:12
wonzmagal CannesCannes FilmFilm FestivalFestival 1970 --
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ki je leta 1970 prejel nagrado filmskega festivala v Cannesu --
01:14
the only printnatisnite I had.
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edini izvod, ki sem ga imel.
01:17
That's my papersdokumenti.
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To so moji dokumenti.
01:19
That was in minutesminut -- 20 minutesminut.
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Vse to v minutah -- v dvajsetih minutah.
01:21
EpiphanySveti trije kralji hitudaril me. Something hitudaril me.
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Razodetje. Nekaj me je zadelo.
01:23
"You've got to make something good out of something badslab,"
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"Slabo spreminjaj v dobro,"
01:27
I startedzačel to say to my friendsprijatelji, neighborssosedje, my sistersestra.
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sem pričel govoriti mojim prijateljem, sosedom, sestri.
01:29
By the way, that's "SputnikSputnik." I rantekel it last yearleto.
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Mimogrede, to je "Sputnik", ki sem ga predvajal lani.
01:31
"SputnikSputnik" was downtowndowntown, the negativenegativno. It wasn'tni bilo toucheddotaknil se je.
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Negativ Sputnika je bil v centru mesta. Ostal je nedotaknjen.
01:35
These are some pieceskosov of things I used in my SputnikSputnik featurefunkcija filmfilm,
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Tu je nekaj delov stvari, ki sem jih uporabil v filmu Sputnik,
01:38
whichki opensse odpre in NewNove YorkYork in two weekstednih
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ki se prične predvajati v New Yorku
01:40
downtowndowntown.
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čez dva tedna, v centru.
01:44
I calledpozval my sistersestra. I calledpozval my neighborssosedje. I said, "Come digkopati."
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Poklical sem sestro. Poklical sem sosede. Rekel sem, "pridite kopat."
01:46
That's me at my deskmiza.
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Tu sem za svojo mizo.
01:50
That was a deskmiza tookvzel 40-some-nekaj yearslet to buildzgraditi.
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To mizo so delali približno 40 let.
01:52
You know -- all the stuffstvari.
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Veste -- vse stvari.
01:54
That's my daughterhči, JeanJean.
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To je moja hčerka, Jean.
01:56
She cameprišel. She's a nursemedicinska sestra in SanSan FranciscoFrancisco.
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Prišla je. Je medicinska sestra v San Franciscu.
01:58
"DigKopati it up," I said. "PiecesKosov.
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"Izkoplji", sem rekel. "Delčke,
02:00
I want pieceskosov. BitsBitov and pieceskosov."
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hočem delčke. Majhne delčke."
02:02
I cameprišel up with this ideaideja: a life of bitsbitov and pieceskosov,
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Na misel mi je prišla ideja: življenje zgrajeno iz malih koščkov,
02:05
whichki I'm just startingzačetek to work on -- my nextNaslednji projectprojekt.
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na kateri ravno pričenjam delat -- moj naslednji projekt.
02:07
That's my sistersestra. She tookvzel carenego of picturesslike,
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To je moja sestra. Ona je skrbela za fotografije,
02:10
because I was a bigvelik collectorzbiralec of snapshotposnetek photographyfotografija
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saj sem bil velik zbiratelj fotografij,
02:13
that I believedverjel said a lot.
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za katere sem verjel, da veliko povedo.
02:15
And those are some of the picturesslike that --
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In tu je nekaj izmed slik, katere --
02:17
something was good about the burntzgorela picturesslike.
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nekaj je bilo dobrega pri ožganih fotografijah.
02:19
I didn't know. I lookedpogledal at that --
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Nisem vedel. Gledal sem jih --
02:21
I said, "WowWow, is that better than the --"
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in si rekel, "Uau, so lahko celo boljše kot..."
02:23
That's my proposalsnubitev on JimmyJimmy DoolittleDoolittle. I madeizdelane that moviefilm for televisiontelevizija.
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To je moj predlog za film Jimmy Doolitle. Naredil sem ga za televizijo.
02:25
It's the only copykopirati I had. PiecesKosov of it.
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Bila je moja edina kopija -- delčki le-tega.
02:29
IdeaIdeja about womenženske.
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Ideja o ženskah.
02:31
So I startedzačel to say, "Hey, man, you are too much!
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Zato sem pričel govoriti, " Hej, stari, pretiravaš!
02:34
You could cryjokati about this." I really didn't.
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Zaradi tega bi lahko jokal." Ampak nisem.
02:37
I just insteadnamesto tega said,
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Namesto tega sem dejal,
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"I'm going to make something out of it, and maybe nextNaslednji yearleto ... "
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"Nekaj bom naredil iz tega in morda naslednje leto..."
02:41
And I appreciatecenite this momenttrenutek
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In cenim ta trenutek,
02:43
to come up on this stagestopnja with so manyveliko people
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da sem stopil na ta oder s tolikimi ljudmi,
02:45
who'vekdo je alreadyže givendan me so much solaceKvantum sočutja,
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ki so mi dali že tako veliko tolažbe.
02:48
and just say to TEDstersTEDsters:
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In vsem TEDerjem pravim;
02:50
I'm proudponosen of me. That I take something badslab,
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ponosen sem nase. Da vzamem nekaj slabega,
02:53
I turnobrat it, and I'm going to make something good out of this,
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obrnem stvar in iz tega bom naredil nekaj dobrega,
02:55
all these pieceskosov.
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iz vseh teh delčkov.
02:57
That's ArthurArthur Leipzig'sOsebe Leipzig originaloriginal photographfotografija I lovedLjubil sem.
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To je originalna fotografija Arthurja Leipziga, ki mi je bila pri srcu.
03:00
I was a bigvelik recordzapis collectorzbiralec --
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Bil sem velik zbiratelj plošč --
03:02
the recordsevidence didn't make it. Boyfant, I tell you,
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te niso preživele. Fant, vam rečem,
03:04
filmfilm burnsopekline. FilmFilm burnsopekline.
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filmi gorijo, kako gorijo.
03:07
I mean, this was 16-millimeter-milimeter safetyvarnost filmfilm.
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Mislim, to je bila 16-milimetrska varnostna kopija filma.
03:09
The negativesnegativi are goneizginil.
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Negativi so uničeni.
03:12
That's my father'soče letterpismo to me, tellingpovedal me to
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To je pismo mojega očeta, ki mi pravi,
03:14
marryporoči se the womanženska I first marriedporočen when I was 20.
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naj poročim žensko, s katero sem se prvič poročil, ko sem bil star 20.
03:18
That's my daughterhči and me.
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Tu sem s svojo hčerko.
03:22
She's still there. She's there this morningjutro, actuallydejansko.
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Še vedno je tam. Pravzaprav je tudi to jutro tam.
03:24
That's my househiša.
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To je moja hiša.
03:26
My family'sdružina livingživeti in the HiltonHilton HotelHotel in ScottsScotts ValleyDolina.
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Moja družina biva v hotelu Hilton v Scotts Valley.
03:29
That's my wifežena, HeidiHeidi,
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To je moja žena, Heidi,
03:31
who didn't take it as well as I did.
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ki stvari ni prenesla tako dobro kot jaz.
03:34
My childrenotroci, DaveySrečko and HenryHenry.
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Moja otroka, Davey in Henry.
03:37
My sonsin, DaveySrečko, in the hotelhotel two nightsnoči agonazaj.
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Moj sin Davey v hotelu pred dvema dnevoma.
03:41
So, my messagesporočilo to you folksljudje,
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Moje sporočilo vam v teh treh minutah je torej,
03:43
from my threetri minutesminut, is that I appreciatecenite the chancepriložnost
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da cenim priložnost,
03:46
to sharedeliti this with you. I will be back. I love beingbiti at TEDTED.
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da lahko to delim z vami. Vrnil se bom. Všeč mi je tu na TEDu.
03:49
I cameprišel to livev živo it, and I am livingživeti it.
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To sem prišel živeti in to živim.
03:52
That's my viewpogled from my windowokno outsidezunaj of SantaSanta CruzCruz, in BonnyEla DoonDoon,
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To je moj razgled iz okna zunaj Santa Cruza, v Bonny Doonu,
03:55
just 35 milesmilje from here.
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samo 56 kilometrov od tu.
03:58
Thank you everybodyvsi.
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Hvala vsem.
04:00
(ApplauseAplavz)
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Aplavz.
Translated by andrej hrovat
Reviewed by Matej Divjak

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Hoffman - Filmmaker
In David Hoffman's long film career, he's made documentaries on everything from Amelia Earhardt to B.B. King, from double-dutch jump-roping to F-15 fighter pilots. Lately he's been fascinated with the early space program and our mania for all things Sputnik.

Why you should listen

Documentary filmmaker David Hoffman has been capturing reality for almost 4 decades, following his wide-ranging interests and turning them into films for PBS, The Discovery Channel, A&E, National Geographic. Highlights from his career include the groundbreaking experimental doc King, Murray, which blurred boundaries between truth and fiction as it tracks its subject through a debauched weekend in Las Vegas; A Day With Filmmaker Timmy Page, about a 12-year-old auteur; and his series of films on American indigenous music.

Lately, he has become fascinated with the Atomic-era Space Race, turning out a feature-length documentary about the Sputnik era. Sputnik Mania was scored by Thomas Dolby and has played at festivals and theaters around the country.

Hoffman suffered a devastating setback in early 2008 when, nine days before TED2008, his home, containing a vast archive from his long and fascinating career, burnt to the ground. His next project: to reframe his life and rebuild.

More profile about the speaker
David Hoffman | Speaker | TED.com